In a location adjacent to a place in a city of some significance, what comes out of my head is plastered on the walls of this blog.

Wednesday, January 05, 2005

"Whatever I say." - continued

I said I'd have more to say and I do.

I'm not understanding why Helga Pataki is so well-liked by fans. She's a bully, a troublemaker, she treats her one real friend like a servant and yet, we are to root for her, mainly to get together with her secret crush; Arnold. A lot of fans will (and have) argue that she's like this because of parental neglect, even when she was a little girl. This is truly sad (being neglected always is), and I honestly could've felt sorry for Helga..but by the time "Helga on the Couch" came along, there had been far too much scheming and more "Out of my way, footballhead!" moments than I care to remember. In the end, whatever compassion I might've had for her mutated into contempt.

In the later years of the show, the original premise (a nine-year-old boy dealing with life in the big city) had generally been lost, and much of the narrative had (inexplicably) been focused on Helga. I'm loath to say this as I met two of the writers while in school (in addition to attending my alma mater and teaching a week-long course, they were very nice people), but the writing didn't know if it was coming or going. Were we supposed to feel sympathy for Helga or hatred? Don't know about a lot of other viewers, but I, personally, was torn on what to think about a lot of the characters, some of whom were forced into the background or needlessly spotlighted. *coughSidcough* I've some things to say about the others, but now is Helga's time.

Another thing that bugs me is how many people espouse the idea of Arnold and Helga getting together romantically. Let me put this as delicately as possible: Arnold will never, ever, ever love her. Why? Helga is too set in her ways to allow anything to happen. You're probably saying 'Helga can change. She just needs Arnold's love to make it happen'. You would certainly not be correct. To win Arnold's love, Helga must change...which will lead to her landing Arnold...whose love will change her... Those darn catch-22s! The only way their (for lack of a better term) relationship can exist, let alone survive, is for one of them to change for the other, something that will never happen. It is truly shocking how many fanfics put them together. Truly.